Turkey - Rize-Artvin: Reclaimed Land Record

Rize-Artvin Airport, the country's second airport and the world's third to be constructed on reclaimed land, will be 8 to 10 meters deeper, marking a new record, Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Ahmet Arslan said. While conducting on-site examinations at the airport construction site where efforts are on-going, Minister Arslan said the airport is one of the most important projects in Turkey. Stressing that the airport being built will be a conventional one, Arslan said that the airport with a 3,000-m by 45-m runway will have the capacity to accommodate three wide-body aircraft and one narrow-body aircraft. He noted that the airport will be one that is worthy of the region, adding that a terminal with the capacity to accommodate 3 million people annually will be built. Minster Arslan said: "We built the Ordu-Giresun Airport on reclaimed land too, but this airport is 8 to 10 m deeper, which is a record in itself." Highlighting that officials aim to complete the airport quickly and to put it into service for the entire region as well as Rize and Artvin specifically, Arslan said the people of these two prominent Turkish cities will benefit from the construction of the airport, adding that it will allow visitors to come to the region which is famous for tableland tourism in the summer and winter seasons, adding that they will have the chance to see the beauty of the eastern Black Sea region, as well. Arslan recalled that they signed a deal with the contractor for the projected 2022 completion of the airport, stressing that both the contractor and the General Directorate of Infrastructure Investments will do their best to complete the project as soon as possible. "We aim to finish this airport in roughly three years, on 29 October 2020, and put it into the service quickly because the people of the region are looking forward to its completion," he said, adding: “So, we will hopefully finish it in three years." #1072.17